Emergency Grants - Guidelines

Who can we help?

We can offer support to single ladies living alone or with their children or fatherless children living alone (children must be under 25 years old).

Applicants must live in a West Midlands county and no more than 60 miles from Birmingham Town Hall.

Applicants must be in reduced financial circumstances.

Applicants must not have received an emergency grant from us in the last five years.

Applicants must be able to provide documentary evidence that they have exhausted all possible support from public funds.

Who can make emergency grant applications?

PLEASE NOTE: We do not accept applications directly from individuals.

Applications must be completed by a support worker, working within an organisation supporting the applicant.

The referring body must be able to administer the grant on behalf of the Charity – this includes completing a supervised shop with the recipient and uploading receipts and other information as applicable.

We can accept applications from a wide variety of organisations including charitable organisations, health care and advice services, tenancy support, education services, NHS and primary care trusts. Applications are not accepted from metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, county councils or district councils.

What items can we assist with?

The Charity can provide an essential household item such as:

Gas or electric cooker

Fridge and/or freezer

Washing machine

Children’s beds and bedding

Applicant single bed and bedding

Baby equipment and, in exceptional circumstances, clothing

Essential kitchen equipment

Essential furniture

Carpets and flooring

As the Charity receives large numbers of applications and we have limited funds, we are normally only able to assist with one item per successful application.

If you are unsure if your application meets our criteria and you wish to discuss the application prior to its submission, please contact the Charity at enquiries@barondavenportscharity.org or telephone the office on 0121 236 8004.

Items we cannot assist with

As we receive high numbers of applications and have limited funding, there are some items that we are unable to consider:

General subsistence costs

Payment of fuel, utilities, council tax or rent

Household repairs

House clearance costs

Relocation costs

Payment of loans, debts or rent deposits

Childcare, child-minding or after school activities

Double beds

Children’s presents

Computers, laptops, tablets or televisions or DVD players

Travel costs or driving lessons

Funeral costs

Course costs or scholarships

Local authority welfare provision

The Charity has a policy to ensure that applicants have exhausted all possible support from public funds before making an award and there is a requirement that if an applicant is eligible to apply for assistance from statutory sources that an application has already been made for the item being requested from the Charity.

How to apply for emergency grants

Online – this is the quickest and easiest way to submit an application.

You will need to register your organisation and receive an Applicant ID and Registered Organisation Name before you are able to submit applications.

Please read these guidelines and online Privacy Notice in full before proceeding to make an application.

You will need the applicant’s explicit consent to apply for a grant on their behalf. Please ensure that you complete the box on the online application form confirming explicit consent.

Applications should be completed in full.

Incomplete applications can be saved and re-visited prior to submission.

If flooring is being requested, please specify which room/s in order of priority.

All quotes for flooring should be uploaded on supplier’s letterhead and must include the size and cost of flooring and fitting per room.

If a cooker is being requested, please specify either gas or electric and provide a fitting cost.

If you are unable to apply online, please contact the Charity at enquiries@barondavenportscharity.org or telephone the office on 0121 236 8004 for further information on how to apply.

Submitting your application

Once you have submitted an application you will receive an email notifying you that your application has been received. Your application will be allocated a unique application number, please quote this number when contacting us.

Applications may take 2–4 weeks to be assessed and are assessed in date order.

Any follow up queries will be emailed to you and you will have four weeks to respond before your application is automatically withdrawn from the grant application system and you will need to re-apply.

You will be notified of the outcome of your application via email. Please allow sufficient time to consider your application, contacting us if you have not received a response within four weeks of submission.

PLEASE NOTE: The decision whether to award a grant is at the discretion of the Trustees of the Charity and there is no guarantee that a grant will be made. The Charity relies on the referring body to inform the recipient of the outcome of an application.

How is an award received?

Granted awards are paid by cheque. The cheque will be sent directly to the support worker to administer. The Charity expects the referring body to process the cheque, organise a supervised shop and upload all receipts to the Charity’s grants application system. Failure to upload receipts may jeopardise future applications.

We prefer to make cheques payable to the referring body. Before submitting your application please check that your referring body is able to accept/administer a charity cheque. We will also need the name of your referring body organisation as it appears on the bank account.

If your organisation is unable to accept a cheque, the Charity may be able to make a cheque payable to a local supplier. It is your responsibility to ensure that the supplier is able to accept a charity cheque and provide the correct payee details.

Please note we do not make cheques payable directly to clients.

Is there a right to appeal?

There is no right of appeal. The decision whether to award a grant is solely at the discretion of the Trustees of the Charity. If you wish us to review a decision based on additional information that you wish to be considered and that was not included in the original application, please provide this in writing to the Charity Administrator at enquiries@barondavenportscharity.org no later than four weeks after the date of the decision.

We receive more applications than we have funds for and therefore are not able to assist in every case.